People’s Garden Grant Program

Conservation Districts Eligible to Apply for Grants

Deadline for applications is Aug. 26, 2011

The USDA People’s Garden Grant Program (PPGP) is designed to facilitate the creation of produce, recreation, and/or wildlife gardens in urban and rural areas, which will provide opportunities for science-based informal education. This program is a joint initiative supported by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Food and Nutrition Service, Forest Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service, in addition to NIFA. Successful applicants will provide micro-subgrant support to smaller local projects.

The primary purpose of the program is for coordination of small local projects to establish People’s Gardens, primarily for food production, but which have an educational component including addressing natural resource conservation.

“An example of how this might work — the conservation district applies for a $25,000 grant to work with five schools to establish people’s gardens. Estimated cost is $5,000 for each garden. NRCS is a cooperator on the grant to provide education and technical assistance. This also provides the linkage to record the garden as a NRCS People’s Garden,” according to John Englert, National Pland Materials Program leader and NRCS People’s Garden Initiative coordinator.

The total amount available in fiscal year 2011 for support of this program is $725,000. The maximum award to a single applicant will be $150,000. All applications are due Aug. 26, 2011 and funds will be awarded before Sept. 30, 2011. Successful applicants will establish a micro-subgrant program that will provide funding of $1,000 to $5,000 to support smaller local projects.

For more information go to http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/peoplesgardengrantprogram.cfm. This page includes links to the request for applications (RFA), the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide, the application package, and abstracts of funded projects.